Having written off SPIDER-MAN after ‘3' (lowest IMDb rating of the bunch), it’s been quite the wait between SPIDER-MEN on this site. (Other than out-of-series efforts like the meta-clever ACROSS THE SPIDER-VERSE and its over-egged sequel.) But with BRAND NEW DAY setting all-time Box-Office records, and likely the last for 30-yr-old Tom Holland as Spidey, took a chance on his first. (Sorry Andrew Garfield.) Holland actually came in thru the side door, thirteenth-billed in CAPTAIN AMERICA: CIVIL WAR/’16 (not seen here), now top-billed. This is unquestionably THE Spider-Man to see for anyone who ever wondered what Michael J. Fox would have made of the role in his BACK TO THE FUTURE days. Did Holland drop his U.K. accent listening to Fox tapes?* No trace of the character’s NYC upbringing, instead Fox’s flat, Canadian, high-pitched, slightly croaky little voice that tends to speed up for no reason. Same build and height, too; plus superior comic timing without any heat or threat. Fox never did the Teen Beat beefcake shots they foist on Holland , but even that can’t sully Holland’s sunny disposition. Backstory has him as Iron Man’s protégé, with Robert Downey dropping in like visiting minor royalty, acting supercilious. A big downer. While the main villain is Michael Keaton whom Spidey takes on before he’s primed for the big leagues. That’s the main plot. But as Keaton plays a sort of Anti-Iron Man and not Anti-Spider-Man, the whole film feels dramatically imbalanced. Other characters (and there are a lot of them) make little mark (they even give Spidey the ‘wrong’ girlfriend). And the effects often have a herky-jerky feel to them in spite of obvious masses of money thrown their way. Guess we’re back to our lonelier than ever Spidey boycott. (For all our Spider-Man content, type SPIDER-MAN in the Search Box in the top left corner on the MAKSQUIBS main site.)
WATCH THIS, NOT THAT/LINK: These films are as producer-led as any big studio film from Hollywood’s pre-‘50s heyday. Initially Laura Ziskin, now Amy Pascale. Even promising more Spideys at the final credits as if this were James Bond. That financial juggernaut probably less valuable than the SpideyWorld now is. Nevertheless, there is a faceless director in charge, Jon Watts whose COP CAR/’15, made right before his SPIDER-MANs, is a smart little thriller that likely cost less than ‘craft-services’ for a week of a SPIDEY shoot, yet has far more personality and pleasure to it. https://maksquibs.blogspot.com/2021/06/cop-car-2005.html
ATTENTION MUST BE PAID: *Just read on IMDb that Holland did indeed base his characterization on Fox.
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